Planket pot inventor Sherri Symons cleaned up at Sheepvention.

RURAL entrepreneur Symons has cleared her parent’s five-year stockpile of crossbred fleece near Ellerslie in 12 months with her innovative wool fertilizer pellets.

Now she is moving onto the next stage in her innovative journey, with felted wool ‘Planket’ products that won her acclaim at the Sheepvention Rural Expo in Hamilton yesterday.

The woolen plant blanket product made into ‘Planket pots’ for direct sown seeds and seedlings won her the main prize and $2000 in the Sheepvention inventions competition on Sunday.

Sherri said the Planket sheets put around seedlings deter slugs and snails while adding nutrients and retaining moisture as they decompose around the plant.

She said the Planket pots mean decreased use of plastic garden pots. After having her wool scoured and processed into the planket material in Geelong, Sherri and mum Carla are making the pots at home.

Sherri said she had been working on the pots in the last six months “and keeping things quiet obviously” while she worked out the kinks.

“There are other types of similar products, so I needed to do something a bit different in design.

“I’ve actually sold some today,” she said.

“They will suit anyone who wants to reduce the use of plastic in their garden and within their homes.

“When you start to see the roots coming out of the bottom of the pot that’s when you dig a hole and plant the whole thing in the ground, pot and all,” Sherri said.

“That way you are getting the full benefits of the wool; the slow release of nitrogen, the water holding capacity, all of the amazing benefits of wool.”

Sherri said she had been able to pay her father a 5-10 cent premium over market value for his wool and there are only 10 bales left at home. Her wool pellet sales are increasing and she is looking at upgrading her pelleting equipment and is looking at the possibility of investors for the next stage in the business’ development.

She wants to see wool pellets utilized in Australia as a drought resilience and soil moisture retention product in broadacre situations. Methods of getting the pellets deeper into the soil in paddocks are also being looked at.

“We will hopefully this year be looking at purchasing wool from farmers within at least a 10 kilometre radius from us.

“We’ve got plenty of crossbred wool producers in our area and I have a really good relationship with the team at Fox & Lillie in Hamilton here.”

Sherri said Australia’s production of 32 micron-plus wool has grown by 35 percent in the last five years.

“There is so much (coarse) wool.

“Everything else until you get down to 17 micron, has decreased.”

https://www.sheepcentral.com/sherri-symons-small-solution-to-a-big-crossbred-wool-problem/